Stetson no longer admissions dean--makes sudden departure NOW instead of next year

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>
[quote]
Stetson makes sudden departure
Admit dean moves resignation up to fall, gives little explanation
By: Jared Miller
Posted: 8/30/07</p>

<p>In an abrupt turn, Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson has announced that he has resigned from his post, effective immediately.</p>

<p>He has been replaced on an interim basis by Eric Kaplan, who served as the Dean of Admissions at Lehigh University from 2003 to 2006.</p>

<p>Stetson had originally announced in July that he would leave the University after 29 years of service effective June 30, after the next academic year.</p>

<p>He released a brief statement yesterday that offered little explanation for the decision:</p>

<p>"Having announced my impending retirement earlier in the summer, I now recognize that it is in the University's, and my own best interest, to step down immediately, before the commencement of the fall semester. I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve this wonderful University for the past three decades."</p>

<p>Stetson's office said he was traveling and could not be reached for comment.</p>

<p>University spokeswoman Lori Doyle said she had no further information about the reasons behind his decision.</p>

<p>University President Amy Gutmann would also not speak about the details behind Stetson's resignation, but she did say that Kaplan would stay on as interim dean through the end of this academic year.</p>

<p>A search committee headed by Gutmann and Provost Ron Daniels has been formed, but it has yet to meet.</p>

<p>Gutmann did not give a timeline for the selection of a permanent replacement.</p>

<p>Stetson's sudden change of heart is an unexpected turn for a man who has received high praise for his success in expanding recruitment beyond the Northeast to destinations both nationally and internationally.</p>

<p>As recently as Tuesday morning, he had given no indication in a DP interview that he would resign sooner than he had previously announced. "I'm not upset about anything," he said at the time. "After 30 years of this position, I've decided I'd like to try other venues, and that's what I'm planning to do."</p>

<p>He also said he had been approached by individuals about consulting in the international arena or possibly doing additional admissions speaking. It is unclear whether he still plans to pursue those options.</p>

<p>The fact that the University now has the most international students of any school in the Ivy League speaks volumes about Stetson's achievements in promoting diversity as the Dean of Admissions. </p>

<p>His first fully admitted class consisted of 29 international students and 267 minority students. Eighty-eight percent of students were from New York, New Jersey or Pennsylvania.</p>

<p>The Class of 2011, on the other hand, will be composed of 318 international students and nearly 900 minority students.</p>

<p>Daniels spoke highly of Stetson's proactive nature and positive effect on the University.</p>

<p>"He shows us that the greatest deans of admissions are the ones … who don't just respond to whatever trends or fashions are out there right now, but are able to partner with the rest of the University's leadership to envision how we want Penn to look in the future," Daniels wrote in an e-mail in July. "What we're looking for in the next dean of admissions is someone who has that same kind of vision."</p>

<h2>-Staff Writer Alissa Eisenberg contributed reporting to this article. </h2>

<p>© Copyright 2007 The Daily Pennsylvanian

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<p><a href="http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/08/30/News/Stetson.Makes.Sudden.Departure-2942734.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/08/30/News/Stetson.Makes.Sudden.Departure-2942734.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Maybe he got a job offer at HYP...</p>

3

<p>Once he announced he might as well have been gone. I hope he has a plum appointment to come.</p>

<p>OR MIT? hehehe</p>

4

<p>Doubt it. If he did, there would be no reason for him to be keeping it quiet now.</p>

5

<p>He's old enough (and has served the time) to retire. He's either come down with some disease, realized that due to taxes and severance/pension pay his marginal income is squat, or wants to start camping out early for this christmas' hot items.</p>

<p>I like how they reference his first class' 88 percent hailing from NY NJ PA, but not current stats. I think it's definitely above 90 percent from NY NJ PA now...</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
I like how they reference his first class' 88 percent hailing from NY NJ PA, but not current stats. I think it's definitely above 90 percent from NY NJ PA now...

[/quote]

Actually, it's 39% now (951 out of 2417 for the Class of 2011). Scroll down to the bottom:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/applying/profile.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/applying/profile.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

7

<p>"I think it's definitely above 90 percent from NY NJ PA now"</p>

<p>It only SEEMS that way - like 45 Percenter said, it's down to less than 1/2 that. Like the complaints I've heard before about "too many" Jews/Asians this is all in your head - PA/NY/NJ may represent the largest single region (to the extent NY/NJ/PA can even be called a single region, which it can't really) but they are not a majority and only "set the tone" if you let them.</p>

<p>I think the big source of change is (1) the increase in international students and (2) the increase in West Coast/ Sunbelt (Fla, TX) students. Both of those have a strong Asian component - the story that was missed was that in this period Penn went from having a minimal Asian enrollment to over 20% Asian. I'm not sure Stetson had anything to do with that - a similar change has occurred at other top schools. To some extent the increase in West Coast enrollment is sort of a spillover as top West Coast schools have become as hard or harder to get into than the East, especially for Asian applicants. But there's no denying that broadening the geographical base was a specific goal of Stetson and one that he largely achieved.</p>

<p>I don't think people realize to what extent in the past Penn (and almost every other school except HYP) was a largely "commuter school" - people just didn't have the money to send their kid off 3,000 or 10,000 miles to school. Even today the vast majority of all college students stay in their home state - either they attend community college, one of the state U's or a local college.</p>

<p>Hard to say what caused Stetson's sudden early departure - could be health reasons or some other "sensitive" topic. None of our business, really.</p>

8

<p>It's fairly obvious that he is stepping down earlier due to increase pressure from everyone for rejecting me. Isn't it obvious to the rest of you? He made a horrible decision and people are upset with him, so he is leaving his post sooner.</p>

9

<p>Something is definitely not right here....</p>

10

<p>My guess is personal reasons--perhaps health?</p>

11

<p>you know, my statement (and my location description) couldn't, you know, have been sarcasm or anything. Obviously it's not 90%+ from NYNJPA. Do keep in mind that they could fill a freshman class with high-scoring perfect-qualification applicants from Long Island alone, though.</p>

<p>I've been told that the DP is working on a story to explore why Stetson left so soon. Keep an eye on <a href="http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.dailypennsylvanian.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

12

<p>


</a></p>

<p>So is the Philadelphia Inquirer, apparently. This story was prominently featured on the front page of the paper today (pretty unusual--this kind of Penn story would normally be in the Local News section):</p>

<p>
[quote]
Penn admissions dean quits abruptly
By Patrick Kerkstra
Inquirer Staff Writer</p>

<p>The University of Pennsylvania's powerful dean of admissions abruptly resigned yesterday, and neither he nor the university explained why he was leaving, effective immediately.</p>

<p>Lee Stetson, 65, had been Penn's chief gatekeeper for nearly 30 years and was often credited with helping the university move aggressively up the ranks of the nation's best schools.</p>

<p>Stetson had told the Daily Pennsylvanian earlier this summer that he would retire in a year, but in a terse statement released this week announced: "I now recognize that it is in the university's, and my own best interest, to step down immediately, before the commencement of the fall semester."</p>

<p>Penn officials were unusually tight-lipped about the departure. Generally, when long-serving and high-profile administrators and professors retire from the Ivy League school in University City, there is no shortage of official praise and well-wishes.</p>

<p>That was not the case for Stetson.</p>

<p>University leaders repeatedly declined to comment, and released only a memorandum distributed to senior Penn officials on Wednesday that curtly noted Stetson's departure.</p>

<p>"We are writing to inform you that we have accepted the resignation of Lee Stetson as dean of admissions, effective immediately," read the memo, sent by Penn president Amy Gutmann and provost Ron Daniels.</p>

<p>The memo made no other mention of Stetson.</p>

<p>Stetson could not be reached for comment yesterday. He did not return an e-mail or phone messages left at his former office and with his daughter, Lindsey. She said he was traveling.</p>

<p>Under Stetson's leadership in the admissions office, Penn became one of the nation's most selective schools, turning down 84 percent of this year's applicants. The average Penn freshmen now boasts a 2137 SAT score (on a 2400 scale) and is in the 98th percentile of his or her high school class, a far more academically accomplished bunch than Penn was admitting when Stetson took over the admissions office in 1978.</p>

<p>Penn's student body also has grown more diverse during Stetson's tenure. Penn admitted 29 international students and 267 minority students in 1978. The most recent class includes 318 international students and 900 minority students. Penn enrolls about 10,000 undergraduates.</p>

<p>Stetson has been replaced by interim dean of admissions Eric Kaplan, a Penn administrator who previously was dean of admissions and financial aid at Lehigh University.

[/quote]
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<p><a href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20070901_Penn_admissions_dean_quits_abruptly.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20070901_Penn_admissions_dean_quits_abruptly.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>wow that's a big story, esp. since i'm applying to penn ed this year. i wonder if a new admissions dean will affect anything</p>

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<p>That's exactly my predicament. I've researched how Kaplan has done with applicants from my school in the years he was admission director of Lehigh. It's not great...</p>

15

<p>Good thing he's only temporary. They're searching for a permanent replacement for Stetson though.</p>

16

<p>My guess is cancer.</p>

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<p>Yes, but Kaplan will still preside over this upcoming admissions year. That is when I'm applying. Whomever Penn chooses to replace Stetson, Kaplan will still be the man I'll need to impress.</p>

18

<p>word on the street is that he got fired</p>

19

<p>^ For what?</p>

<p>Meanwhile, he just missed being quoted in this major national story:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Ivy League school welcomes 15-year-old
Colo. girl says age isn't an issue as she starts University of Pennsylvania</p>

<p>The Associated Press</p>

<p>Updated: 3:56 p.m. ET Sept 2, 2007</p>

<p>PHILADELPHIA - Brittney Exline is too young to vote, drive a car or go to an R-rated movie, but at the age of just 15 she is beginning her Ivy League career Wednesday when classes start at the University of Pennsylvania. </p>

<p>She said she doesn’t really notice the age gap between herself and her 17- and 18-year-old peers — and neither do they. </p>

<p>“I didn’t tell people right off the bat that I was 15,” Exline said. “A lot of people were pretty surprised.” </p>

<p>Exline grew up in Colorado Springs, Colo., where at 8 years she was already in sixth grade. By 13 she had finished high school math. She turned 15 in February and graduated a few months later. </p>

<p>She’s not preoccupied with how unique her accomplishments are. </p>

<p>“I wouldn’t even really realize that if people didn’t tell me,” she said. </p>

<p>She excels at math and science and is really interested in politics, so she enrolled in a Penn program that will award her degrees from both the engineering and liberal arts schools when she graduates in 2011. </p>

<p>Talents go beyond academics
But her resume also includes years of dancing and singing and a couple of teen pageant titles. </p>

<p>“Her motivation, discipline and maturity provided clear evidence that, despite her age, she was ready to travel halfway across the country and thrive in Penn’s rigorous academic environment,” Eric Kaplan, interim dean of admissions, said in a statement. </p>

<p>There have been much younger college students: Jessica Meeker enrolled at Penn State two months before her 13th birthday, graduating in 2004 at age 16. </p>

<p>Exline’s mother, Chyrese, a geriatric supervisor, said her concerns about her daughter’s freshman year are probably no different from any other parent’s. </p>

<p>“We did our best to prepare her,” Chyrese Exline said. </p>

<p>Exline has already been on the Philadelphia campus for about a month, participating in a pre-freshman acclimation program. Program counselor Noemi Maldonado described her as “extremely outgoing, very social, very friendly, very mature for her age.” </p>

<p>Miguel Gonzalez, another program participant, said Exline revealed her age when a group of incoming freshmen were hanging out late one night. </p>

<p>“She’s really cool for a 15-year-old,” said Gonzalez, who turns 18 later this month. “We were surprised, but I don’t think it’s too shocking.”

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<p><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20563446/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20563446/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

20

<p>I hope he's not sick or anything</p>